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Critics of the Emerging Church Should Be the Biggest Supporters

You don’t have to go far to find the critics. The first page of a Google search produces this. Now I wouldn’t go that far in a critique and found a lot of value in some of the more well-known and thought out arguments against the movement. All you have to do is look at the bulk of what I have written here to see that I resonate with many things in the emerging church movement. With that said I have found some things that have made me uncomfortable, mainly the close relationship with postmodernism.

When carried out to its fullest extent postmodernism leads to nihilism. When you question everything you are eventually left with nothing. I had a professor in seminary who talked about the “line of despair”, a place of hopelessness that the inevitable descent of postmodernism will take you without any sense of hope.

The emerging church is that hope (or at least has that potential). Continue Reading…

August 9, 2010 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Quitting Christianity

Everyone else has a view on Anne Rice “quitting” Christianity so here’s my two cents.

Rice wrote books on vampires before they were brooding tweener heartthrobs. She wrote Interview with a Vampire that was turned into a movie. About 10 years ago she converted to Christianity and began writing historical/Biblical fiction pieces about Jesus that were incredibly well received. This most recent announcement wasn’t as big as her announcement of faith but, I do recall many a Christian folk signaling this as a “win”. She was like the literary version of Tim Tebow, she had talent, a major platform, and from it seemed to say all the right things.

Then she quit, Christianity not Christ. Her inital comments below:

“As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.” Continue Reading…

August 2, 2010 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Vulnerable Leadership

I never have liked the book of Psalms. I usually think this is because I am uncomfortable that poetic prayers that ask for the complete destruction of one’s enemy. Sure Psalm 23 is beautiful but the one about enemies throwing their infants down onto rocks makes me cringe. That is until I realized I was missing some of the beauty of the Psalms.

In his introduction to the book Eugene Peterson flips me on my head by pointing out the obvious, the Psalms are in the Bible not because of their perfection but for their honest imperfection. Honesty is the primary characteristic of prayer, well prayers like the Psalms at least.

Honesty is hard because it is easy to lie.

In leadership I don’t think I have a problem sharing credit, but I do have a problem being honest. Continue Reading…

August 1, 2010 in Uncategorized with 10 Comments

Pointing to Something

“The Temple was never supposed to be a retreat away from the world, a safe holy place where one might stay secure in God’s presence, shut off from the wickedness outside. The Temple was an advance sign of what God intended to do with and for the whole creation.” — N.T. Wright from: After You Believe

Sometimes you get you butt kicked and you are thankful for it. It has been said that Wright writes faster than you can read, and it’s true. It can be hard to stay focused on what he is writing not because it is poorly constructed but because it has so much weight time is needed to process.

We in church leadership talk about a lot of things almost always these things are good. But I wonder if we occasionally confuse the issue. Continue Reading…

July 28, 2010 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Humility Instead of Discipline

It is a chicken and the egg type discussion. The local church or the local church leader? Which one really drives change?

Well I don’t really know, but I do know that the local church is changing and it seems that some of the most vibrant churches are the ones doing something for the first time. This means that the leader in these churches must be doing something fairly new (or maybe just long forgotten). The Sr./Lead/Teaching/Executive pastor/minister is an ever evolving role and it seems that their primary tool has changed. Continue Reading…

July 26, 2010 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Visitor Follow Up

If you go to church regularly you know that most churches are very intent on getting your contact information. You also probably know that most people don’t fill out that card (or whatever method that church uses) on their first time. In fact people normally only give that info when they feel comfortable and really want to become a part of the community. Which means that it is imperative for the church to respond appropriately and quickly when the information is shared.

At the church I serve at this follow up is partially my responsibility. In my context it has to deal with involvement in ministries opportunities and small groups. Currently I send an email within 48 hours of the Sunday, but I know some suggest a phone call.

This is where I need your help. Put yourself in the position of just getting involved in a church and taking the step to fill out a card expressing your desire to serve and/or connect how would you like to be contacted?

Please take a moment and participate in the poll and feel free to elaborate in the comments.

July 22, 2010 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

What If?

There is a plan (that seems to be destined to go through) to turn a building two blocks from the World Trade Center into a mosque. This has become the recent flash point of controversy in nearly every circle you can imagine. There have been quite a few reasonable arguments against the construction from the families of victims and more than a few folks running for office in the fall. From a very cursory perspective this seems like a no-brianer: Muslims financed and carried out the attacks that horrible Tuesday morning, who received training, education, and support at a mosque. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if this thing doesn’t happen and frankly I can understand.

But I hope they build it. Continue Reading…

July 20, 2010 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

Workaholics, What They Didn’t Tell Me

In the last two years I have completed two half marathons. My athletic history is adverse to running. In baseball I played first, caught, and DH’ed; I was not a threat on the bases. During basketball season I prefer the half-court offense and zone defense where I can camp out. Yet I ran and ran and ran usually on a treadmill and I hated it. Despite my hatred I found something rarely used within me, a workaholic. I don’t think I’m a lazy guy but every now and then I do need a kick in the pants. Continue Reading…

July 19, 2010 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

What the Church can Learn From Apple

So today Apple held a press conference to address the reception issues with the new iPhone 4. If a user held the phone a certain way or if their finger covered a small gap on the antenna that goes around the phone, the call is dropped. Consumer reports suggested using a piece of duct tape. Steve Jobs may have told an upset customer to get over it. Today Apple took steps to make it right. They are going to give each iPhone user a case (or reimburse them) and come out with new software to fix the problem.

They had to do this, but they didn’t have to. Continue Reading…

July 16, 2010 in Uncategorized with 0 Comments

5 Attributes of a Decling Church, and How One Turned it Around

I saw this graph over at Tony Morgan’s blog, and I immediately recognized each attribute. The church I previously served at was in decline until the leadership took drastic and necessary steps to turn the ship around. I am sharing my experiences not to elevate myself (I had little to do with the turnaround) or to belittle those involved, but to tell a compelling story of what happens when people lead. Continue Reading…